Ed Miliband's mansion tax policy threatens Britain's historic homes

Cost of looking after historic homes for future generations

SIR – I live in a family house that is open to the public, but, like many people in that position, I am asset-rich but cash-poor.

Ed Miliband's policy on mansion tax is deeply depressing to those who treasure and look after England's built heritage (Letters, February 19). Rich buyers of such houses sadly come with form: unsightly walls and fences bristling with electronic burglar-alarms are put up, ancient footpaths are challenged, the houses are no longer open to the public and, worst of all, family chattels, often collected over centuries, are dispersed, with many going overseas.

I can only hope that Boris Johnson is right (Comment, February 18), and that this is a tax which will deeply anger the British public.

Simon Wood Brockfield Hall, North Yorkshire

SIR – If the Labour Party, either in government or coalition, introduces a wealth tax on assets in excess of £2 million, the threshold would stay there for eternity.

Related Articles

Gifts of £3,000 a year and £5,000 when your child gets married are exempt from inheritance tax. This would once have provided a deposit for a home.

Is this a way for the authorities, favouring ultra-low interest rates and inflating away the debt, to impose negative interest rates by stealth?

Rupert Fast Esher, Surrey

SIR – After a lifetime's hard climb up the property ladder, my husband and I recently bought a house with a small garden. It was derelict and we took out a half-million pound mortgage to renovate it.

The estate agent now tells us it is worth a shade under £2 million – and inflation will soon change that. We have no other assets. This was to be the home where we would finish raising our family and spend our retirement years. Now we face the prospect of selling it, for where are we to find the £25,000 a year Ed Balls talks of, especially in later years on a fixed income?

Or do we rip out our improvements and deliberately devalue it?

Nicole Sochor London NW3

SIR – Boris Johnson says mansion tax is "colossally unfair on Londoners". I wonder if he has considered how unfair it is that council tax payers in the shire counties pay almost twice as much as the residents of Westminster and Wandsworth where high value houses are to be found.

Brian Jenkins Tarporley, Cheshire

SIR – The Lib Dems support a mansion tax, and there are even suggestions of a wealth tax on items such as jewellery. What message is this sending to the up-and-coming taxpayers? I imagine they will be weighing up whether it is worth striving for greatness or settling for mediocrity.

Jennifer Grover Great Kingshill, Buckinghamshire

Support whistleblowers

SIR – In financial services, it is a criminal offence not to report suspicion of money laundering, which is hardly likely to result in anyone’s premature or unnecessary death (Letters, February 19).

I therefore find it incredible that there is no statutory duty to “whistle blow” on neglect or ill-treatment in any health-care related environment, where such actions are most definitely life-threatening.

That any attempts at whistleblowing are treated by corporate bullying, dismissal and gagging clauses is nothing short of a national scandal.

There must be an independent body to which concerns can be voiced with impunity. This needs to have the full force of the law behind it and be free from government influence.

Mike Morley Ashton Hayes, Cheshire

Hunt case collapse

SIR – In response to your report “RSPCA 'wasting taxpayers’ cash’ as latest hunt case collapses” (February 19), we would like to point to the Attorney General Dominic Grieve’s recent parliamentary comments.

He said: “If somebody is acquitted, it does not necessarily mean that the prosecution was wrong in principle.”

In this case, the RSPCA was clear that there was sufficient evidence of an alleged offence of interfering with a badger sett.

The RSPCA’s case was that “digging” took place at the sett. However, at the opening of the trial, concerns among experts did appear as to whether such “digging” technically constituted a breach of the law.

Consequently, and appropriately, the RSPCA offered “no evidence” and the case was dismissed. Our legal costs are estimated at £3,500. Prosecution is always the last resort; it is taken to prevent animal abuse and to ensure that laws designed to protect animals are upheld.

Gavin Grant Chief Executive, RSPCA Southwater, West Sussex

Mindless comparisons

SIR – Richard Watson (Letters, February 18) says he has yet to meet anyone with an interesting mind who has a tidy desk.

I don’t have a desk at work, just a laptop and remote connection. Does it follow that I don’t have a mind? I have yet to meet anyone with a cluttered desk who can finish a task, let alone find anything.

Mike HaberfieldMilton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

Britain and India

SIR – As a British-born person living and working in India, I do not understand why Britain should keep on apologising for its erstwhile empire (“Why we owe a debt to India”, Comment, February 18).

In the 18th century, India was in no position to defend itself against emerging European powers – if Britain had not “conquered” India, France would have.

Moreover, Britain has done enough to compensate for its imperial past. It has allowed more than three million people, including my parents, to settle in British cities from the Indian subcontinent; it continues to pump in financial aid to every corner of its past colonies; it has done, and is still doing, far more for the territories it once ruled than other imperial powers ever did for their former colonies.

There are over four million people still living in India who also lived under British rule. In his article, Dean Nelson fails to point out that many among them still say that when the British ruled India, corruption in India’s public life was virtually non-existent.

Simren KaurJalandhar City, Punjab, India

SIR – The British left India a superb railway system, a free press and a model legislature at district and parliamentary level. It should also be remembered that the two and a half million Indians who fought for Britain in the Second World War were all volunteers.

Roger ParlbyCollingham, Nottinghamshire

SIR – There is no way that Britain can rescue beneficial trade with India, or any of our valued Commonwealth allies, while we remain under the trade treaty restrictions of European Union membership.

We must remove ourselves from these restrictions and independently negotiate deals with India and other nations.

Tony SmithAshburnham, East Sussex

Ban the fizz

SIR – In wanting to impose punitive taxes on fizzy drinks (report, February 18), the medical profession seems to believe that the taxation system is a method of health care. If doctors are genuinely concerned about the impact of fizzy drinks on the nation’s waistline, they should propose to ban the sale of these drinks altogether.

They should also take a more pro-active approach to helping patients who are obese, offering help and advice on this issue, regardless of why the patient has come to see them.

Anthony HendersonWoking, Surrey

SIR – It is rare for GPs to encounter obese patients whose condition is no fault of their own.

Operations such as gastric tucks, therefore, must not be freely available on the NHS, for they would be at the expense of other essential surgery. Instead, the problem should be solved by the introduction of a girth tax, dimensions to be determined by a select committee.

Mike ColeEdington, Somerset

Backward trends

SIR – I am interested in Scandinavian research into chair design recommending a forward tilt for the seat (Letters, February 18). I have lost count of the number of times I have dined at restaurants while straining forward to reach the table due to a chair with a backward sloping seat.

Who thought this new trend was a good idea?

Gail LeesSt Clement, Jersey

Unisex loos expose men and women’s habits

SIR – While attending a Rocky Horror Show production at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford a number of years ago, I visited the Gents during the interval (Letters, February 19). I was surprised to see a longer queue of ladies waiting to use the Gents facilities, than men.

After completing my duties and upon washing my hands, I received a round of applause. Apparently, I was the only man who had washed his hands after the visit.

Chris CoxHipperholme, West Yorkshire

SIR – If Parliament can apply gender neutrality to marriage, surely Brighton and Hove City Council can do the same to its public lavatories?

Geoffrey Locke Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire

SIR – I wonder how many hours, or days, or weeks that I have spent waiting outside ladies’ loos all over the world for my wife.

I suppose there will be a wider choice of fellow sufferers to chat with while waiting outside a unisex loo, so it can’t be all bad.

Dr John GregoryGerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire

SIR – Trains have always had unisex toilets. What is the problem?

Terry PutnamWeymouth, Dorset

SIR – Years ago, I attended a meeting at the offices of a leading firm of London lawyers where there were three lavatories: men, women and partners.